I would support a measure to lower the voting age to 14 or 12, because I don't think there should be any cutoff age. Any age chosen will be arbitrary and unjustified, and any age over 5 or so would likely exclude at least a small number of deserving individuals. There are child prodigies who could probably do a much better job making decisions as a voter than many adults by almost any standard one chose to employ.
Some kind of poll test on individual knowledge or decision-making capacity would be fairer and more legitimate, though not necessarily a good idea.
As with drivers licenses, I don't think adults should be subject to the death penalty or (with perhaps rare exceptions) be warehoused in prisons, so of course I don't want those government abuses extended to children.
In practice of course, I don't think many people as young as 12 are likely to have much interest in voting. Even voting rates among 18-year-olds are notoriously low.
Thank you, Mike. Glad you liked what I had to say and are still participating here!
For newer members, Mike Acree lives in the East Bay now and takes care of an elderly family member, but was long one of our core activists, past LPSF treasurer, etc.
In an immediate, practical sense, probably very little one way or the other Mike. But in terms of both libertarian principles and strategic politics, I had hoped my longer previous message would have adequately addressed this. If you disagree, perhaps you might take issue more specifically with some of the things I wrote in that message?
I agree that being subject to the military draft while unable to vote put the injustice in stark relief, but it's not like the State can't impact the lives of young people in life-shattering ways now. They are mandated to attend schools (government-run ones in the absence of any alternative approved by the State), can be involuntarily separated from their families, can be incarcerated in juvenile detention facilities, etc. Not to mention what can be done to their parents/guardians which of course often severely impacts them.
As noted, I agree that in practice not many people under 18 are likely to be interested in voting, at least not at present. So that may be a real-world ameliorative for those concerned about the possible consequences of this measure passing.
I believe the LPSF gains something if they are able to inspire the Board of Supervisors to adopt your position. How are we going to gain with the measure as written?
